Words could not do enough justice to describe the satisfaction Tibaut felt after fighting the men. Ever since he had met Elizabeth, he fought people and things that were far from the ordinary. Elizabeth, Tina, Ezekiel, the man in black and the kobold horde. Even though Tina was the 'easiest' of those he fought she was still a pain in the ass and the only reason he regularly sparred with her was to see her get stronger.

These guys, though, they helped to shine a light on Tibaut to show him how much of a gap there was between normal people and adventurers. The fight didn't even last a minute.

With what he had been through, he felt like he had skipped the tutorial and went back to it after playing the main game for a few hours.

("Holy shit, why couldn't these guys have been who I ran into in that village!")

He thought as he checked through one of their pockets.

("Rejoice Tina! Your gold will be spared thanks to these generous men.")

"Is that necessary?" The bartender asked.

"Why should I feel bad about stealing from some thugs?"

The bartender put down the glass he was cleaning and started looking through his selection of liquor.

"So what will you be having?"

"Hold on, isn't this a bit too casual of a reaction after beating these guys up?" He asked. He had finished searching through the final idiot and walked over to the counter.

"It was only a matter of time before this happened." He commented, sounding disinterested. "As I was saying I have a fine collection ranging from Red Hell 82 to High Sphe-"

"Sorry, but I don't do alcohol. I'd like something to eat." He put the coins down he had 'borrowed'.

"Would you like a meal or a meal with a story?"

He looked at him confused.

"Uh, your voice isn't really that interesting so I'll just take the meal."

The bartender sighed before putting it in plain words.

"Listen, aren't you curious about why those men attacked you?"

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

"Aren't they a bunch of thugs?"

"I'm afraid I can't say. So how about the story?"

Tibaut clicked his tongue and said "Fine." When it isn't your money, it's quite easy to part with it.

"Say, you said you're working for a noble, correct? Is it Mr. Bradley?"

"I don't really know his name, he just asked for a bodyguard."

"At least you're honest. And that sounds about right for that young man." He walked over to a stove and turned it on. A pot was already on it so he seemed to be reheating something. "Ever since last year, that man has been hiring bodyguards like crazy."

"How much are we talking exactly?"

"About 7 to 15 every month."

Tibaut at first didn't think this was much but then remembered he had been doing it for a year. On average that'd be 132 guards based on his loose math.

"He's not well-liked now, is he?"

"Well, I have no qualms about him but there seems to be some group that has it out for him."

"Is that these guys?" He said while pointing to the idiots on the floor.

"No." He had now opened the pot and was stirring it around.

"Huh? Then what the hell was their deal?"

He then began putting some spices in whatever he was reheating on the stove, which didn't inspire confidence in Tibaut but it wasn't like he could unpay for the food.

"You see they've been going around villages lately and… let's just the places they visit have a lot of missing girls. People here are getting tired of it and starting to throw blame at the… what is he again? A Lord or something, anyway those guys over there either had a daughter, sister or lover taken away. Honestly, if my daughter was living in town I'd have probably joined them in attacking you."

Tibaut couldn't help but cringe after hearing this.

("I know they're wrong for attacking me but damn, maybe taking their money was a bit too much.")

"What the hell? Why aren't the police doing anything?"

The bartender picked up a ladle and started filling a bowl with what looked like a stew.

"That's the thing, they are. Yet no matter how many of them they detain, the bastards appear like roaches in some village or town and attack the noble the next day. The strange thing about it is they almost always fight to the death with guards he had stationed and even injure some of his maids. I'm honestly surprised he doesn't just leave the country already."

"Fight to the death?"

"Ah, that's right, you are working for him, aren't you." He served Tibaut the bowl.

("I mean, with Elizabeth here, we should be fine.")

"I don't mean to sound arrogant but I'll probably be fine." He started devouring the meal before him before the bartender had even been given the chance to give him some bread.

"Yes, yes, do take care of yourself." He said. He dropped the bread in his stew and soon made himself sparse.

"A guy with only women around him that has troubles with guys that take away women whenever they visit somewhere. I can see the problem here."

Tibaut finished his meal before leaving the tavern. He felt quite awful about turning those guys into his punching bags. Unfortunately, he didn't feel awful enough about it to bring them to a doctor.

"Well, I didn't hit them too hard so they should be fine. Probably."

A bit nervous about their conditions he listened to each one of their chests to make sure they were still breathing. Thankfully they were all still alive. Though he felt less sorry for them as most smelled of booze.

Except the man who first approached him. The only thing he noticed about him was tear marks under his eyes.

"Don't worry you grumpy bastard, I'll do something about them (I hope anyway)."